I think there are too many variables and everyone has their own opinion. Most people only purchase one camera, so their experience with others is lacking. I would recommend you check out www.dpreview.com where you will find profession reviews and recommendations. Also check on www.epinions.com once you have narrowed down your choices.

I have owned three different digital cameras, and I am looking for a fourth at this point. I my most recent camera is a Fuji S-5000. It is 6.2 MP and has a 10X optical zoom. It uses four standard size AA batteries for power. I have purchased two sets of NiMH 2400mAh batteries and a charger for under $20.00 at my local Walmart, and I regularly have the batteries last for upwards of 200 pictures. I have heard of cameras getting more pictures per charge, but I expect it is a proprietary battery pack. That is great except when you have to replace it and they charge you $65.00 for a new one (I'm thinking Nikon!) The zoom on this camera is true optical zoom, rather than digital. This means better image quality for thoase long shots. Other things I like about the Fuji, is that it is a "standard" size camera body. As someone who used a 35mm Camera for years, I appreciate having a camera in my hands that feels substantial. Another advantage of this camera, and one of the primary reasons I went to this one from my prior Kodak DSC camera, is that it has internal memory. This allows you to take 3 pictures per second up to a total of 9 pictures before it has to pause to write to memory. This was always a problem for me with the Kodak. I would take a picture, and sometimes it would pause for up to 20 seconds while it was writing the picture to memory. It doesn't sound like a long time, but it seems like forever while you are waiting with that perfect picture fading fast in front of you. This camera sells for less than $300.00. You should expect to shell out an additional $50.00 or so for accessories (batteries + charger, carrying case and larger memory. When I upgrade in the near future, I will probably purchase a Fuji S-8000 - the "big brother" of the S-5000.

I like Sony Cybershots. Mostly because of the extremely short time between pushing the button, and capturing the picture. Some digicams use quite a long time for this, making you mis the shot. For about $400 it includes a Zeiss lense. Look for optical zoom instead of digital zoom. Go for rechargable AA or AAA cells instead of a special batterypack. So you can use normal batteries too, when unexpectidly you run out of power. Normal batteries are available everywhere, and ready to use. Recharging an exclusive batterypack isn't practical when on the move.